Rio 2016 To Be The Most Live Broadcast Olympics Ever

The TV networks and online platforms of NBCUniversal (NBCU) will present an unprecedented 6,755 hours of programming for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics will air Friday, August 5, on NBC. Competition begins two days earlier Wednesday, August 3, with women’s soccer on NBCSN and USA Network. The Games conclude Sunday, August 21, with the Closing Ceremony on NBC.

With Rio just one hour ahead of the Eastern Time zone, the 2016 Summer Games will be broadcast live more than any other Olympics ever.

Watch On TV

NBC (Ch. 603/3) will broadcast coverage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, swimming, gymnastics, track and field and many more of the Games’ most popular sports. NBC is available to all MCTV cable TV subscribers.

NBCU will showcase the Olympics across its family of networks including Bravo (Ch. 664/64), CNBC (Ch. 669/69), Golf Channel (Ch. 675/75), MSNBC (670/70), NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) (Ch. 707/107) and USA Network (Ch. 626/26). These channels are available to MCTV customers that subscribe to the Basic cable TV package.

Plus two specialty channels for soccer (Ch. 334) and basketball (Ch. 335). Soccer coverage begins August 3 and basketball coverage begins August 6. These channels are available to MCTV customers that subscribe to the Basic cable TV package.

Watch Online

NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app will live stream 4,500 total hours − including all Olympic competition − to desktops, mobile devices, and tablets, plus connected TVs for the first time. To watch online, you must subscriber to the Basic level of TV service and your MCTV cable TV account must be registered through www.watchTVeverywhere.com.

Following is a summary of each network’s Olympic coverage plans:

NBCNBC’s 260.5 hours of coverage begins Friday, August 5, and concludes Sunday, August 21, with the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, respectively. Across NBC’s primetime, daytime and late night dayparts, coverage will feature many of the Games’ most popular sports, including swimming, gymnastics, track and field, diving, beach volleyball, volleyball and the men’s and women’s basketball finals.

In addition to competition, coverage will include athlete features, segments about the host city and country as well as interviews with newsmakers and medal-winning athletes.

Bob Costas will again anchor NBC’s primetime coverage, while Ryan Seacrest will host the network’s late night programming. Al Michaels will serve as an NBC daytime host on weekdays and weekends. Dan Patrick and Rebecca Lowe will work daytime across both NBC and NBCSN.

NBC’s daytime and late night programming will originate from a studio located at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Copacabana Beach. The state-of-the-art beach studio will feature two sets; one indoor and one outdoor, a main anchor desk, an interview area, and a news update desk, all positioned to capture the panoramic views of the beach, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the Rio coastline. It is the first time in 24 years, since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, that NBC Olympics has utilized a major studio outside the International Broadcast Center (IBC). NBC’s primetime studio will be located in the IBC.

NBC Sports NetworkNBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will present 330 hours of Olympic programming and more than 20 sports, both more than any other TV network. NBCSN will once again serve as the showcase network for Team USA women’s soccer, and Team USA men’s and women’s basketball.

Medals will be won every day on NBCSN from Saturday, August 6, through Sunday, August 21. In addition to basketball and soccer, coverage will include track and field, archery, boxing, cycling, fencing, field hockey, judo, open water swimming, rugby, shooting, soccer, synchronized swimming, table tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and more.

The network’s 18 days of coverage begins Wednesday, August 3, two days before the Opening Ceremony, with women’s soccer, and concludes Sunday, August 21, the final day of the Games. Most days, NBCSN will televise 16 hours of coverage, from 8 a.m. to midnight ET.

Golf ChannelWith golf’s return to the Olympic Games for the first time in 112 years, Golf Channel will present 115 hours of tournament programming, surrounded by in-depth analysis previewing and recapping the competition and highlighted by live coverage of the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Golf competition (Men’s: Thursday, August 11 – Sunday, August 14; Women’s: Wednesday, August 17 – Saturday, August 20). In total, Golf Channel will provide nearly 300 hours dedicated to Olympic programming in August.

Similar to NBC Sports’ all-encompassing coverage of marquee events like The Open and Ryder Cup, NBC Olympics’ live coverage of the men’s and women’s competitions in Rio will begin with the opening tee shot and continue until the medals are awarded. Golf Central’s Live from the Olympics will also provide wraparound news coverage immediately prior to and following live coverage of the competition. Additionally, NBC will feature live look-ins, highlights and updates on the golf competition throughout the Games.

BRAVOBravo will once again serve as the home of Olympic tennis, televising 94.5 hours of live coverage that begins on Saturday, August 6, and concludes on Sunday, August 14, with the men’s singles final. The women’s singles final airs on Saturday, August 13.

For each of the first five days, Bravo will televise Olympic tennis for more than 12 hours, from 9:30 a.m. ET until 10 p.m. ET. The final four days will each consist of eight hours of coverage, from 11 a.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET. This will be the third time that Bravo has hosted Olympic coverage (2004 and 2012).

CNBCCNBC’s 42 hours of coverage begin Saturday, August 6, and conclude Friday, August 19. Weekdays, the network’s Olympic coverage will take place from 5-8 p.m. ET, after traditional business and financial programming.

This will be the ninth consecutive Olympics in which CNBC has provided coverage, including every Games since 2000. The network will showcase elimination-round coverage of basketball and volleyball, as well as archery, beach volleyball, cycling, rugby, water polo, wrestling and many more sports.

MSNBCMSNBC will carry 78.5 hours of Rio Olympic programming, including coverage of men’s basketball, beach volleyball, rugby, soccer, volleyball, and water polo, among other sports. As with CNBC, this will be the ninth consecutive Olympics in which the network has provided coverage, including every Games since 2000.

Coverage begins Saturday, August 6, and concludes Saturday, August 20. Ten of the network’s 15 days of coverage take place from Noon ET to 5 p.m. ET.

USA NetworkAfter taking a hiatus during the 2012 London Olympics, USA Network returns to the Summer Games with 110.5 hours of programming from Rio. This will be the sixth time the network has carried Olympic programming (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2014). Its coverage begins two days before the Opening Ceremony with women’s soccer on Wednesday, August 3, and concludes Sunday, August 21, the final day of the Games.

SPECIALTY CHANNELSNBC Olympics have two Olympic specialty channels – one each for basketball and soccer. The specialty channels will focus 779 hours of content solely on each of their respective sports nearly every day of the Games. The soccer channel begins programming Wednesday, August 3, two days prior to the Opening Ceremony, with women’s soccer coverage. The basketball channel begins its coverage Saturday, August 6.